"INTO THE WOODS"

I have decided to announce my Handmade Christmas Ornament Swap here this year.  I simply don't use my other blog (Yarni Gras!) right now and people get confused.

This year's theme is "INTO THE WOODS"

I think the forested areas are simply magical so for this swap, gain inspiration from things you would find in the woods!  Things like owls, songbirds, hedgehogs, trees, flowers and sprites, pixies, elves, gnomes, acorns, pine cones, toadstools...pinterest (LOL)   

The info:

Once again, We are doing a "5 for 5"  swap.

What this means is that you will be sending me 5 handmade ornaments and receiving a variety of 5 ornaments back. You may use ANY MEDIUM you want to create these little pieces of art!

You do not have to have a blog to join.  
The deadline to sign up is October 3rd.  I am allowing 20 participants this year so do not delay signing up!

To sign up, send me an email at valpowery(at)yahoo(dot)com with your name so I can put it on the sidebar.  I will send you instructions when I get your sign up email.

This will be a USA only swap due to shipping.

Please create something you would love to receive and be sure to package your ornaments in a nice, re-usable box so I can mail your new ornaments back to you in it.   Be sure to include a self addressed return label for me.

Try to keep your ornaments light in weight and please take care when wrapping to make sure they are cushioned, etc.  We want all our ornaments to arrive in pristine condition!  

All ornaments must be either in a clear treat bag or some other "holiday" type wrap with a tag from you.   It doesn't have to fancy, but do take some time to do a good job, no throwing all the ornaments in a box with no gift tags and no wrapping or tissue.  Remember, these ornaments represent hard work and all participants want to OPEN them as they would a Christmas gift.  Last year, I spent way too much time actually wrapping ornaments after fixing them.  I work so don't have that kind of time on my hands.

If ANY of your ornaments reach me broken, they will be returned to you.  That being said, if 2 break, you will get 2 of your own back along with 3 different ones for a total of 5.

*New Rule:  Many of us have become dear friends and I even have family members joining now too.  Please understand that in shuffling these ornaments around, your friend or family member may get an ornament you planned on giving them privately.  When it started happening, I made a few extra ornaments but in an effort to give everyone a unique package, I ended up giving away my own ornaments from the swap to do this.   May I suggest you either send in extra ornaments to keep this from happening or refrain from giving the ornaments privately until AFTER everyone receives their box.  (Some of you already do that, thank you!)

Shipping:  $10.00 is sufficient to cover the cost of sending ornaments back to you unless they are oversized or heavy.  In that case, please send in a buck extra.  Again, please include a return address label already filled out.  

Ship in time for me to receive them by mid November...no later than Thanksgiving.  That way, I can get them in time to mail them out by the first week of December.  Sadly, I can't guarantee you getting an exchange box if your ornaments do not reach me in time.  (If that happens, I'll gladly return your own ornaments to you using the money you sent for shipping.)  
Shipping funds are important!  If you forget to include shipping, your ornaments can't be sent/returned until you have sent me the funds to send/return them to you.

If you finish your ornaments early, feel free to send them to me early so I can start organizing them.  The earlier the better!

If time gets away from you and you need to back out, no big deal, just drop me an email and I'll remove you from the list.